John Meesen (born 20 June 1986) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

player who played for the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

and

Adelaide Football Club The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL).

Career

Drafted with the 8th selection in the 2004 draft, Meesen had a long wait to play his first senior game for the Adelaide Crows. Playing for Norwood in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

, Meesen was a leading ruckman in the senior side, but was incapable of surpassing

Rhett Biglands Rhett Biglands (born 4 September 1977) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. Career He made his debut as an 18-year-old in the SANFL with Woodville West Torrens kicking 5 goals in his first match. He was ...

Ben Hudson Ben Hudson (born 24 February 1979) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club, Western Bulldogs, Brisbane Lions and Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He has s ...

and Matthew Clarke for a spot in the Crows team. Following Biglands' 2007 season-ending injury in the 2006 preliminary final and Clarke's move to St Kilda, it was thought that Meesen would begin season 2007 as back-up ruckman to Hudson. However an injury-plagued pre-season saw Jonathon Griffin and

Ivan Maric Ivan Maric ( hr, Ivan Marić, ; born 4 January 1986) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club and the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was Richmond's ...

move ahead of him in the pecking order. Meesen finally made his debut in round 20 of 2007 against the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

AAMI Stadium Football Park, known commercially as AAMI Stadium, was an Australian rules football stadium located in West Lakes, a western suburb of Adelaide, the state capital of South Australia, Australia. It was built in 1973 by the South Australian Nat ...

in the Sunday twilight fixture. He came in at the expense of Griffin. It was thought that he may have made his debut a week earlier in his home town of Geelong against the

Cats The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...

due to Hudson's club-imposed suspension, but the club decided that having an inexperienced ruckman playing alongside a debut ruckman wouldn't be a suitable situation. In October 2007 Meesen was traded to the Melbourne Football Club for the 37th selection in the

2007 AFL draft The 2007 Australian Football League draft consisted of four opportunities for player acquisitions during the 2007/08 Australian Football League off-season. These were trade week, the national draft, which was held on 24 November 2007, the pre-se ...

. He made his debut for Melbourne in Round 3,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. Meesen was delisted at the end of the 2009 season along with Michael Newton; both were re-drafted as mature age rookies. After failing to play a senior match in 2010 due to injury, Meesen was delisted at season's end. Melbourne subsequently appointed Meesen to the role of part-time development coach. Recently, Meesen returned to his home grown club, Modewarre, where he took the opportunity to co-coach a young and talented team alongside veteran, Josh Finch. Meesen immediately attained the respect from his teammates and committee and begun a very successful 2018 season in Geelong's Bellarine Football League (BFL). Modewarre begun the season with just one win through the first four matches, however, turned the season around winning 9 of the next 11 games to ultimately gain a spot in the BFL Grand Final against the red hot favourites, Barwon Heads. Meesen was a dominant force in the ruck which reflected in his team's performances and brought Modewarre's first Premiership to the club since entering the BFL competition. Meesen was awarded best on ground for his grand final performance to complete his successful season. Meesen also finished runner up in the BFL League Les Ash Medal vote count however Meesen was reported during a minor incident in the 2018 season. Meesen joined

Collegians Football Club Collegians Football Club (nicknamed the ''Lions'') is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Albert Park. Formed in 1891, it is the second-oldest club in the VAFA, after Melbourne University Football Club Mel ...

in 2021, initially as a Ruck coach, though he went on to play 8 games in the season as Collegian's primary Ruck option.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meesen, John 1986 births Living people Adelaide Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Geelong Falcons players Melbourne Football Club players Norwood Football Club players Casey Demons players Tiwi Bombers Football Club players Sandringham Football Club players